County continues to navigate ups and downs of COVID-19
During the Shelby County Commission meeting on May 26, County Manager Chad Scroggins shared several updates on how things are continuing to progress in the county throughout COVID-19.
He said that business in the county is starting to pick back up. All of the license offices are open, including Inverness. “Not only open but doing all their functions, including license renewals,” Scroggins said.
“We are still not able to issue new permits or administer driving tests,” he said. “There’s still no word when ALEA offices will open, but we are ready for them when they are ready.”
The Shelby County Courthouse will open to the public beginning Tuesday, June 2 with limited access during Phase Two of the resumption of in-person hearings. Jury trials will not begin until September 1.
Shelby EMA Supervisor, Hub Harvey gave an update on things he and his team have been working on. He said the Shelby County Health Department is still doing COVID-10 testing at no cost. No appointment is required, but people must meet the criteria to be tested. Testing times are from 8:30-10:30 a.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Harvey said the county has had 460 confirmed cases, 82 in the last 14 days. A total of 8,372 people have been tested in Shelby County, 3,090 in the last 14 days. So far there have been 19 deaths attributable to COVID-19.
“Some good news yesterday, the number of cases in the 3 day, 14 day and 21 day numbers were on a downward decline,” he said.
The Shelby EMA has been working with many organizations, including the University of Montevallo on how to help them reopen safely in the fall, working with all long term care facilities to ensure they have enough PPE and keeping up to date with administration at Shelby Baptist Medical Center.
“If there is a second surge, we can look at the big picture and be prepared as best we can with what we’ve got,” Harvey said.
CFO Cheryl Naugher provided another financial update. The April sales tax for 2019 and 2020 was within $100.
“The next two to three months will be the determining factor where we really see the effects of COVID-19,” she said.
The lodging tax for April is $95,000 less than last year, a 42% drop from 2019. The gas tax is down 12.7% of the budget to actual.
Scroggins said that the only projects that have been put on hold are ones that rely heavily on lodging tax. Any contracted projects that have been started will continue.
Resolutions were approved by the commission for laundry services and supplies and uniforms for the juvenile detention center.
At the end of the meeting, the commission went into executive session for land and contract negotiations.
The next Shelby County Commission meeting will be June 8 at 8:30 a.m. at the Shelby County Administration Building in Columbiana.